The present invention relates to an assembly for supporting a display shelf at a non-transverse angle to a support and to a bracket useful in such assembly.
A conventional assembly for supporting a display shelf on a vertical support includes at least one elongate support (typically at least a pair of such supports) and at least one transversely-extending display shelf. Each elongate support defines an upright front surface and a plurality of longitudinally spaced first engaging means facing forwardly in the support front surface. Each shelf defines a generally upright back surface and at least one plurality of longitudinally spaced second engaging means facing rearwardly from the shelf back surface. The plurality of second engaging means are configured and dimensioned for cooperation and interconnection with the first engaging means for releasable maintenance of the shelf in a plane transverse to the plane of the support.
Such assemblies are well-known in the prior art, the supports and shelves typically being kept in reserve by a store, ready for use in maintaining the shelves transverse (perpendicular) to the supports. On the other hand, where the articles to be sold from a display tray are to be gravity fed along a track as a result of the angular disposition of the top surface of the shelf upon which the display shelf rests, the store must also store at least one additional transversely-extending display shelf having the second engaging means thereof configured and dimensioned for cooperation and interconnection with the support first engaging means for releasable maintenance of the shelf in a non-transverse plane to the plane of the support.
Thus, if a retailer is to display both non-gravity fed and gravity-fed products, he must store a rather large quantity of shelves, some of the shelves being suitable for the non-gravity-fed products and the other ones for the gravity-fed products. The storage of this large quantity of shelves may not be possible due to space considerations and, in any case, increases the necessary financial investment in the shelves. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a support assembly which utilized conventional supports and conventional shelves, with the shelves being releasably maintained in a plane either transverse or non-transverse to the plane of the support, as desired by the retailer at a given time.
In certain instances, the thickness of the shelf may vary from the front thereof to the back thereof so that, when the bottom of a display shelf is disposed in a horizontal plane, the upper surface of the shelf is inclined forwardly and downwardly to provide for a gravity-feed orientation. Alternatively, the display tray to be placed on the display shelf may contain its own means for inclining the article-supporting tracks thereof so as to provide for a gravity-feed orientation despite a horizontal shelf top. Such variable thickness shelves and self-inclining display trays are not within the scope of the present invention as they always provide for a gravity-feed orientation.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an assembly for supporting a display shelf at an angle to a support, the shelf being releasably maintained by the support in either an inclined orientation (for gravity-fed displays) or in a horizontal orientation (for non-gravity-fed displays).
Another object is to provide an assembly which reduces the number of shelves which must be stored by the retailer.
A further object is to provide a bracket or angling means which may be used in such an assembly in order to releasably maintain the shelf in a plane non-transverse to the plane of the support.